Indonesia-based fintech Ayoconnect announced on Wednesday it raised $5 million through its pre-Series B financing round, which included participation from BRI Ventures, Tokyo Exchange-listed internet company Kakaku.com, Inc., and Brama one Ventures. Existing investors that also participated in the round were Finch Capital and Amand Ventures. The company has raised over $10 million to date.
Ayoconnect reported that together with its partners, looks to drive financial inclusion in a cash-reliant Indonesia, where majority consumers do not have bank accounts.
“With its positioning in building an Open Bill Network, Ayoconnect offers a “One API” solution which allows Bill Providers to expand their payment points with minimum effort, while Channel Partners have immediate access to 2,500 bill products.”
As of July 2020, Ayoconnect noted it has processed more than 40 million payments through its 600 Bill Providers and 40 Channel Partners. Ayoconnect debuts with a lineup of prominent partners including DANA, LinkAja, PT POS Indonesia, Bank BRI, Bank Permata, Bukalapak, Lazada, and Pegadaian. Jakob Rost, Co-Founder and CEO of Ayoconnect, spoke about the investment round by stating:
“Securing the right, strategic investor profile was very important for our Pre-Series B raise. We look forward to working with our existing and new investors who share in the strategic significance of Ayoconnect’s vision – organizing the entire Indonesian biller ecosystem into one central network.”
In regards to Ayoconnect’s future plans, Co-Founder and COO, Chiragh Kirpalani, added:
“Online bill payment is a clear winner from COVID-19 as consumer preferences have accelerated digitalization. Ayoconnect will remain focussed on bill payment while aiming to build more value-added solutions together with our partners. One such solution includes a Billing Reminder that helps our partners like Bank Mandiri Card Division and other financial institutions execute auto-debit for bill payment.”
